Very often Jesus would spend time preaching to the people in the open country. In our text for today Luke brings us the first part of one account of Jesus’ message to the people who had gathered to hear Him. At this time Jesus popularity brought people from all over who wanted to hear Him, to touch Him, to be touched by Him, to be blessed by Him, to have Him bless their children. People came who were troubled by evil spirits so that He would cure them. It strikes me that many who were coming were there only to see what they could get from Jesus. Certainly there were those in the crowd who came to hear, believe and live their faith and yet, there were certainly many others who simply came to selfishly get what they could. I think we must all admit that this scene is not unlike what our churches look like today. How often do we have people who simply come to church to get what they can? And, yes, there are those many others who come to hear, believe and live their faith.
The question we might each ask ourselves this morning is, “What type of Christian are we?” “Are we blessed or should we heed the woes of our text?” Luke tells us that Jesus looked at His disciples and spoke these words of blessing and woe. This morning we will line up together the words of blessings and woe and ask the question, “are we blessed?”
We begin by comparing and contrasting verse twenty and verse twenty-four. Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (v. 20). And He contrasts that with the words, “But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation” (v. 24). We need to understand that Jesus is not talking about material blessings, about being financially poor, rather He is talking about those who realize they are poor in spirit, that is, those who realize their constant need to be forgiven and to have their spirit refreshed by the Word of God. These Christians He places in contrast to people who believe they can find peace and happiness in this world and the things of this world. Woe to those who think they are rich in spirit and do not see their need to be in the Word. These are those who think they are good people, or at least better than the really bad people and they think they know the answer to all of life’s questions and have no further need for the crutch of the Word of God and faith. To follow the course of this “woe” ultimately means eternal death. To follow the course of this “blessing” ultimately means eternal life. Are you blessed? Where do you find peace?
Next, we compare and contrast the first part of verse twenty-one and the first part of verse twenty-five. Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied” (v. 21a). And He contrasts that with the words, “Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry” (v. 25a). Jesus is not talking about physical hunger, but spiritual hunger. When Sunday morning comes around, and even on Saturday, do you look forward to and eagerly anticipate being in Divine Service, being reminded of your Baptism, confessing your sins and hearing God’s word of absolution, hearing God’s Word read and proclaimed and being given Jesus’ body and blood in His Holy Supper? Do you seek other opportunities and reasons for reading your Bible and studying God’s Word? Do you hunger and thirst after the Word of God? How do I say it? When it comes to the Word of God and His means of grace do you have a desire for it? These people are put in contrast to those who think they have graduated from studying, reading and hearing God’s Word. They think they know everything there is to know about God. Their worship attendance is sporadic, although they might believe that their once a month, or twice a month attendance is regular. They do not exercise their faith in any way, serving on boards or committees and the like. They do not understand the idea of being good stewards of God’s good gifts and blessings but rather think they are doing God a favor by periodically giving some of their hard earned money to the church. To follow the course of this “woe,” also, ultimately means eternal death. To follow the course of this “blessing” ultimately means eternal life. Are you blessed? What is your attitude when it comes to Sunday morning? What is your attitude when it comes to the means of grace? What is your attitude when it comes to your personal reading of God’s Word? What is you attitude when it comes to living your faith?
Now let us consider the second half of verse twenty-one compared to the second half of verse twenty-five. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh” (v. 21b). “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep” (v. 25b). Jesus is not talking about those who weep for selfish reasons. He is not talking about those who are upset because they were caught sinning. When Jesus is talking about those who weep He is talking about those who are sorry of their sins and the consequences of their actions. I believe that too often in our society people are not so much sorry for their actions, their sins, what they have done wrong, so much as they are sorry that they got caught doing something wrong. Here Jesus is reminding us of the ultimate cost of our sins, His life. Yes, it is our sins, our little sins, our big sins, our sins of breaking the commandments, our sins of thinking we can find peace here on this earth, our sins of refusing God’s gifts by not being in Divine Serve and not reading our Bibles, our sins of not living our faith, our sins of not acknowledging our part in Jesus’ death, that is, that it is because of our sins, my sins, that Jesus had to die on the cross. Blessed are those who weep, but woe to those who have no contrition for their ways and sins. Woe to those who do not give thought to their words and actions, as well as their thoughts, because remember, our sin does not begin with an action, our sin has its roots in our thoughts which often prompt us to speak sinfully and to act sinfully. To follow the course of this “woe” ultimately means eternal death. To follow the course of this “blessing” ultimately means eternal life. Are you blessed? Do you lament your part in Jesus’ death or do you try to make excuses so that Jesus really did not have to die too much for you?
Finally, we compare and contrast verse twenty-two and verse twenty-six. “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!” (v. 22). Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets” (v.26). Martyrdom is not often seen in our world today, rather, more often than not, we compromise our faith and confession. It is truly difficult to be a Christian in our world today. It is difficult to hold on to the teachings and practices of our Lord. Christians, true Christians are those who are hated, excluded and insulted because they are Christians. It is so much easier to be a “closet” Christian and to compartmentalize our lives and just be a Christian on Sunday mornings. In contrast to this is the woe. Woe to those who are spoken well of, honored, and well treated in this world, for they are now receiving their reward. Are we praised for our ability to compromise and accommodate others, meaning that we are tolerant of other peoples faith and life style even if it is to their detriment? When it comes to good works of service, do we do only those things which gain praise for us in this world, or do we not let our left hand know what our right hand is doing so that our praise is not here on this earth, but is awaiting us in heaven? To follow the course of this “woe” ultimately means eternal death. To follow the course of this “blessing” ultimately means eternal life. Are you blessed? Do you let your light so shine before people that they see your faith, even if it means rejection? Do you do those good works which God would have you to do even if and especially when they are not seen by others so that your glory is awaiting your in heaven?
By now, most of us are probably feeling pretty rotten, because most of us must admit that according to these words of Jesus, which are meant as words of encouragement, find us guilty of not being the Christians He would have us to be. And yet, Jesus does remind us that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just and forgives our sins. He also reminds us that He will help us to do the good works which He has for us to do and in our text He tells us, “Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” (v. 23). In other words, as He works through our lives and as we face the persecution which is ahead of us, we are to rejoice because our reward is great in heaven.
So, what about us? Are we blessed? Thanks be to God that He is always waiting to forgive us and give us a second chance, at least while we are in this world. He is waiting and ready to forgive and give us a second chance earned by Jesus. It was Jesus’ perfect life, lived for us. It was Jesus’ taking our sins upon Himself and suffering the eternal punishment of hell for our sins. It was Jesus’ resurrection which earned this forgiveness and second chance for each one of us, for you and for me. Thus, we are blessed when we put our complete faith and trust in Jesus. We are blessed when we confess our sins and are given forgiveness. We are blessed when we live our lives centered and focused on Him. We are blessed when we realize that there is always more about God that we do not know and so we see our need to constantly be in His Word.
We are blessed when we hunger and thirst after the Word of God, when we not only find the time, but when we make the time to read the Word of God, daily, and when we make the time to be in Divine Service at every opportunity.
We are blessed when we confess that we are sorry for our sins and the consequences of our actions, especially the fact that Jesus had to give His life for our sins. We are blessed when we confess that we are worse than the next person and so we know our need to confess in order to be given His forgiveness.
We are blessed when we seek our reward not in this world but in the world to come. Ultimately we are blessed when we realize that we can do none of this in and of ourselves, but only with the help and by the power of the Holy Spirit working in and through us.
May the Lord bless you so that you might first seek Him and His Kingdom so that you might find peace with Him. May the Lord bless you so that you might hunger and thirst after His Word and a closer relationship with Him. May the Lord bless you so that you might be truly sorry for your sins and your part in His death. May the Lord bless you so that you rejoice in your forgiveness, earned by Jesus. May the Lord bless you so that you might be encouraged in your doing the good works that He has for you to do even when and especially when they are known only by Him. May the Lord bless you for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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